The lithium ion batteries for a midrange Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) can cost between $12,000 and $15,000, making it is the most expensive component of the vehicle (constituting some 38% of the total vehicle cost to the consumer). Accordingly, a major customer concern is the cost of a battery failure, so competitive vehicles must carry a long warrantee on the battery (often, for example, 8 years or 100,000 miles).
Presently BEV battery failures are rare, but BEV vehicles are too expensive to compete with conventional vehicles and they are produced in very low numbers. Cost reduction and increasing assembly volumes can only be maximized by designing batteries that meet the minimum ruggedness requirements consistent with lifetime cost of the vehicle. It is possible to reduce the ruggedness requirements and consequently the manufacturing cost of the battery through several methods often only if significant computational and data acquisition and storage capacity is available.
U.S. Patent Application 2009/0157232 generally relates to a method for preserving battery operation and life during vehicle post idle shutdown, such vehicle having a delayed accessory power mode operative when an ignition state of the vehicle is in a non-engine running condition while an ignition switch of the vehicle is in the ON position to supply accessories in the vehicle the battery. The method includes: detecting whether the vehicle has been in an post idle shutdown condition and brake pedal not pressed and ignition state unchanged; and placing the vehicle in the delayed accessory power mode after detecting that the vehicle has been in an post idle shutdown condition and while the ignition switch is in the ON position.